Abby, a founding baker at Luminary, was inspired by the day her friend and fellow baker Sarah took her out to forage for wild blackberries near our first bakery. Enchanted by the berries’ rare appearance, the result was this delicious, colourful tart. As Sarah was vegan and Abby on a refined-sugar-and gluten-free diet, this was something they could both enjoy and a great use for the treasures of their trip.
SERVES 8–10
For the pastry
110g coconut oil
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
50g coconut sugar
¼ tsp fine salt
20g ripe banana, mashed
170g gluten-free plain flour
For the blackberry purée
340g fresh blackberries
6 tbsp light maple syrup
For the blackberry filling
250g blackberry purée (see above and method)
50g cashew nuts, soaked for 2–4 hours or overnight in cold water, then drained
2 tbsp light maple syrup
a pinch of fine salt
125ml water
½ tsp agar agar powder (or 2 tsp vege-gel)
4 tbsp coconut oil
To decorate
170g blackberries
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
To make the pastry, melt the coconut oil in a small pan over a low heat. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped thyme. Let the mixture cool and infuse for about 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cool thyme-infused oil with the coconut sugar, salt and banana until the mixture no longer separates. If it won’t come together, put it in the fridge and check every 3–5 minutes until it is cool enough to hold together when whisked and looks creamy. Mix in the flour until a dough forms.
Quickly press the dough into the base and sides of a 23cm tart tin (preferably loose-bottomed), focusing on making the edges as even as possible. Poke several holes with a fork over the surface of the pastry, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas Mark 3.
Put the tart tin on a baking tray, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice/lentils. Bake blind for 10 minutes (see here), then remove the paper and beans/rice and bake for a further 15–20 minutes until the base feels dry, looks cooked and has no oily patches.
Transfer the tin to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
To make the blackberry purée, combine the blackberries and maple syrup in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir every now and again until the berries have released their juices.
Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend to a vibrant purée, then press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Weigh out 250g of the purée and set aside to use in the filling, then chill the remaining purée in the fridge until ready to serve.
To make the filling, put the blackberry purée, soaked and drained cashews, maple syrup and salt into the blender/food processor and process until completely smooth. Leave in the blender while you prepare the agar agar and coconut oil.
In a small saucepan, combine the water with the agar agar and bring to the boil, then continue to boil for another 2–3 minutes, whisking constantly until it dissolves. At the same time, melt the coconut oil in a separate saucepan.
As soon as the agar mixture is ready, with the motor of the blender running, carefully pour the hot agar mixture into the blender, gradually increasing the speed from low to high, then blending at high speed for 30 seconds. Repeat this process with the melted coconut oil, making sure it’s fully incorporated before stopping.
Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell. Very carefully, gently tap the tart on the work surface to release any air bubbles. Cut a portion of baking paper large enough to cover the surface of the tart and delicately smooth the paper directly onto the surface of the filling. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
When chilled, remove the tart from the tin and very slowly peel off the paper, beginning at one side and peeling to the other. Decorate the top of the tart with the blackberries and a few sprigs of thyme and serve with the remaining blackberry purée.